Poker Faces in the Crowd: James Sweeney

by Ben SaxtonTwo
Plus Two Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 1

It’s tough to find a more prolific poker instructor than James “SplitSuit” Sweeney. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Sweeney found poker in 2004 at Syracuse University, where he played in dorm room games, at Turning Stone Casino, and online. Since then he co-founded Red Chip Poker, coached hundreds of students, released hundreds of training videos, and wrote four books—most recently Unfolding Poker: Advanced Answers To The Most Frequently-Asked Poker Questions. He lives in central Mississippi with his wife and son.

In recent years, Sweeney has focused on live no-limit cash games. “While I wish there were more options to play PLO/8 or Big O, I mostly just stick to hold ‘em, up to and including 5/10,” he told me. In this email interview we discussed what coaching teaches; balancing poker, business, and family; Sweeney’s experience with Solve for Why Academy; and the future of poker instruction.

Ben Saxton: You’ve coached over 500 students. What has coaching taught you about poker?

James Sweeney: It’s been an awesome experience working with so many students from so many different walks of life. If I had to distill all of those coaching hours into just a few points, I would say:

Coaching Makes you Realize what you are Weak at

I’m a big proponent of the quote “you don’t really know something until you can teach it well.” Students ask great questions and continue prodding until they get an answer that makes sense and is usable for them. And if a coach is lacking in a particular area—either in understanding or how to explain something—the student will find it.

Over the years I’ve learned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses through coaching. Each leak, be it a poker leak or a teaching leak, forces me to get back to work to patch it. At the end of the day this has made me a much stronger player, and a much better presenter of complex material.

Players have Grown a lot over the Last Decade

When I first started coaching, I quickly developed an outline for the first 5 sessions I did with any student. Pretty much every student needed to go through it to patch up the easy leaks and actually build a foundation for their game.

But now, students are so much stronger than they were years ago. There are so many more resources available for learning the game, that the students I get are much more advanced and have a much better idea of knowing what they don’t know.

This makes my job much easier. Coaching sessions are no longer lectures; rather they are dynamic Q&A sessions where we go through their questions and hands at a rapid-fire rate. Students know what they need to work on, and we are able to accomplish far more in far less time.

Static Thinking is Killing People

The issue that gets most students in trouble is thinking too statically. Players that want a rote system end up with an incomplete strategy that may work in certain environments, but is not equipped to handle tougher games.

In poker, it’s far more valuable to understand why a certain play is profitable than to look for fixed rules like “always 3bet AK preflop” or “always double-barrel your flush draws.” Fixed rules create a simplified strategy that leaves you wide open to exploitation—especially as stack sizes get deeper.

If you are serious about improving as a player, ask yourself what static rules you employ. Then, ask yourself 3-5 times “why is this rule true?” The biggest edges are earned by those who think creatively and avoid the group-think lines and sizings that the player pool is used to.

You wrote, on your website, that “the last few years have been an exercise in finding the balance between family, work, and the endless list of new projects I want to tackle. It’s given me a new appreciation for the family-man (or family-woman!) that is trying to learn poker and grind alongside a job and family.” What does your weekly schedule look like? What are some of the “endless new projects” you’re working on?

My weekly schedule has evolved quite a bit over the last few years. I was working close to 70hrs/week a few years ago, but have since cut back to about 40hrs/week. Of course, being your own boss means you make your own schedule, but also that you don’t get paid lunch or paid vacations—so there are pros and cons.

A typical week has me waking up somewhere between 4am-6am and working until my son gets home from school. I especially like waking up at 4am and getting a couple hours of work in before everyone else in the house wakes up. I’m most productive in the morning, so it works for me.

It’s also helped quite a bit that I’ve reduced my work hours on weekends. We started observing the Sabbath in my house, so Saturday is an automatic off-day. And while I may put in a few hours on Sunday, it’s not the 10hrs/day every day that I used to put in!

As for projects, I have a couple of book and course ideas in mind—but I can’t leak them yet!

Has your son taken an interest in poker? Would you encourage him to get involved in the game?
My son has gotten more interested in the game as he’s gotten older (he’s turning 14 in a couple of months). He plays [Open Face Chinese] and NLHE, but his favorite variant is Big O. His bluffing frequencies are a bit too high, but we’re working to rein them in.

I encourage him to think deeply, question basic advice, and consider creative solutions to complex problems. He sees poker as a way to do that, although he’s shown zero interest in playing the game professionally. If he decides to later in life I will fully support him, but I suspect he’ll enjoy poker recreationally.

You mentioned that you like to go walking and hiking with your family. Any favorite hikes/national parks?

Before moving to Mississippi we lived in Vancouver, WA and we really enjoyed hiking at Multnomah Falls. We are still exploring places down here in Mississippi and have yet to find a favorite.

Are there many good games in Mississippi?

While there are a number of options around (Biloxi, NOLA, etc.), it’s much less convenient to get to a live room than it was when I lived in Las Vegas.

Do you have a favorite non-strategy “poker stories” book?

I really enjoyed The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King. I haven’t read it in years, so I’m not sure if it still holds up—but it was a fun read at the time.

You attended Solve for Why Academy, a poker training program run by Matt Berkey. What attracted you to Solve for Why? How was the experience?

I was invited a couple years ago, through Christian Soto, to be a part of the prototyping of Solve For Why. For me, it was about challenging myself by playing against really strong players. Not everyone goes for that reason, but it’s a huge benefit that forces you to grow and adapt quickly.
The experience was excellent. Knowing I was going to be playing against that lineup really motivated me to ramp up my studying for the weeks leading up to it. This allowed me to handle myself within the game better, but also to absorb the taught material at a deeper level.

The prototype was essentially two live play sessions and two review sessions. I’m not sure if Solve For Why still uses that format, but it’s a solid one. It certainly makes the second session more interesting after doing a full strategic breakdown of the first one.

Where do you think poker instruction is headed in coming years?

I think you are going to see more personalization, more private masterminds, and more content geared around bridging theory and practice. Players today have a lot of information downloaded in their brain, they just need help making sense of it all and distilling it into a usable strategy. A combination of the three things mentioned above will help that student immensely.